The Wood River Branch Railroad was a shortline railroad in Rhode Island, United States. Chartered in 1872 and opened on July 1, 1874, the line operated (with one major interruption) until 1947. It connected Hope Valley, Rhode Island, to the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad (known as the Stonington Line) mainline at Wood River Junction. Though always nominally independent, the company was closely affiliated with the Stonington Line and its successor, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (the New Haven), which held significant portions of its stock.
The Wood River Branch carried both passengers and freight for local mills and other industries. A small operation, the company owned only one or two locomotives at any given time. Rhode Island citizen Ralph C. Watrous became president of the railroad in 1904, and remained involved in its operation for the next 33 years. He defended the railroad from several attempts at abandonment. A major flood in November 1927 severed the line and suspended all operations. The company considered abandonment, but ultimately local citizens and the New Haven agreed to rebuild the damaged segments and return the line to service for freight only, using a gasoline locomotive.
Abandonment was considered again in 1937, but the New Haven instead agreed to sell the line for $301 to businessman Roy Rawlings, owner of a grain mill that was the line's biggest customer. He ran the company with his family and a small staff until 1947. That year, both his mill and two other Hope Valley industries were destroyed by fire. Lacking enough business to justify operating expenses, the railroad ceased operations and was abandoned in its entirety in August 1947. Little of the line remains .
History
Southern Rhode Island's first railroad was the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad (commonly known as the Stonington Line or simply the Stonington), which opened between Providence and Stonington, Connecticut, in 1837, connecting to New York City via steamboat. The arrival of rail transportation allowed major growth in textile mills, which used water power along local rivers, such as the Pawcatuck River. Mill owners found that transportation over land by wagon was costly in both time and money. In the mid-1860s, Harris Lanphear, owner of several mills on the Wood River (a tributary of the Pawcatuck), found that it cost three times as much to transport goods to Stonington than it did to ship them the rest of the way to New York. He and other local residents realized that a railroad would solve this problem.
The largest local manufacturer was the Nichols and Langworthy Machine Company, formed in 1834 at the site of the Crandall Mill. The mill was previously purchased by Gardner Nichols and Russel Thayer in 1824, at which time they first introduced the name Hope Valley. The Machine Company was created by Nichols along with Joshua and Joseph Langworthy, all of whom were later succeeded by Gardner Nichols' son Amos G. Nichols and with his brother Henry G. Nichols. By the 1860s, Nichols and Langworthy had expanded into the production of boilers, steam engines, textile machinery, and printing presses.
Formation and construction
Residents in the Hope Valley area first asked the Stonington to build a branch to serve local mills, but they were among many towns and cities along the Stonington's route that also desired branches, and the Stonington's management had no interest in building any branches regardless. The residents next chartered their own new railroad, the Wood River Railroad, in January 1867. The new company was authorized to raise up to $600,000 () to complete a route from Wood River Junction (at the time known as Richmond Switch) on the Stonington Line to Greene on the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad (HP&F). It was also given the authority to merge with either of its connections after completing construction. The route was approximately and passed through generally hilly terrain, serving no major population centers; in fact, the promoters of the company had no intention of actually building a railroad. Their goal was to entice one of the proposed line's connections to intervene and build the line for them, a tactic that had succeeded elsewhere in the United States. The Stonington maintained its refusal to build branches, and while the HP&F built several short branches elsewhere, it had no interest in building one in southern Rhode Island. Without the resources of a larger railroad, no progress was made and the charter expired five years later.
Once the first charter expired, residents in the area sought out a new charter, this time intending to build the railroad themselves. The Wood River Branch Railroad was chartered in May 1872, along an approximately route beginning at Richmond Switch and ending in Hope Valley. The exact terminus location was not specified; the Hope Valley villages of Locustville and Wyoming both sought to have the railroad's terminus. To choose a route, the railroad's directors arranged for all stock subscriptions to be sorted into three groups: those who wanted a Wyoming terminus, those who wanted a Locustville terminus, and those who had no preference. By May 20, 172 shares had been pledged, including 50 for Locustville and 20 for Wyoming, with the remainder expressing no preference. The directors voted that the company's terminus would be Locustville if $35,000 () were raised, but Wyoming instead if either $45,000 () were raised or those in favor of Wyoming pledged a total of $10,000 ().
A survey was started under the direction of George T. Lanphear on July 17, 1872, and completed on August 2. Lanphear identified two routes from Richmond Switch to Locustville. The western alignment would cost $10,000 more, but would serve two additional mills in Woodville. To extend the line from Locustville to Wyoming would cost approximately an additional $23,000 ().
While progress had been made on raising funds, development of the railroad was impaired by both the Panic of 1873 and a deadly train derailment on the Stonington Line at Richmond Switch, caused by the washout of a railroad bridge due to a dam collapse. Most subscribers to the Wood River Branch's stock reduced their subscriptions accordingly, and one mill owner's pledge to buy 101 shares was wiped out with his death. The company was saved when on June 23, 1873, the Stonington Line finally decided to get involved and pledged $19,000, plus $1,000 worth of pledges made directly by that company's executives (equivalent to $430,000 and $23,000 in 2021, respectively). At this point, the Wood River Branch had $59,500 () of subscribed stock, which was barely sufficient to reach Locustville, let alone Wyoming. The latter was excluded from the final route, much to the anger of Wyoming residents.
Construction of the line began on September 20, 1873, with a $95,500 () contract awarded to J.B. Dacey & Co. to build the entire line. After delays caused by winter weather, construction was completed between Wood River Junction and Woodville by April 1874. Acquisition of a locomotive and rolling stock fell to board member Amos G. Nichols, who ordered a new 4-4-0 steam locomotive, named the Gardner Nichols after his father. With the branch out of money, Nichols purchased the locomotive from the Rhode Island Locomotive Works himself for $8,500 (). Nichols also purchased a new passenger car from the Worcester-based Osgood Bradley Car Company using $4,500 () of Wood River Branch Railroad bonds instead of cash. There was no money left for a baggage car. The line opened for business on July 1, 1874.
Early operations
As the only major industry in Hope Valley, the Nichols and Langworthy Machine Company was the railroad's biggest customer and the only one with a dedicated siding. With a workforce of approximately 150 people, Nichols and Langworthy became known across the United States for the reliability of its engines, and most of the company's products were shipped to customers via the Wood River Branch Railroad.
The line quickly began to show an operating profit, but this was all but eliminated by interest payments on the $57,000 of bonds, totaling $4,000 annually (equivalent to $1,365,000 and $96,000 in 2021, respectively). Additionally, just under $18,000 of floating debt was required to make up the difference between construction expenses and the company's funding from bonds and stocks (). When bond payments were made, they were often late and usually funded by taking on additional floating debt.
The company's 10-person payroll cost $342 monthly (). The biggest costs were regular operating expenses (generally $4,400 to $4,800 per annum, equivalent to $105,000 to $115,000 in 2021) and maintenance of way, which was highly variable depending on weather events and accidents (anywhere from over $8,000 to under $4,000 per annum, equivalent to $192,000 to $96,000 in 2021). Expenses were amplified by the tendency of the line's iron rails to fracture when trains went through curves and very limited supply of spare parts (allegedly, when the line finished construction, only two pieces of rail and a few spikes were left unused).
Within a few years, it was clear to the company that additional income would be required to make bond payments; the Stonington Line rebuffed an 1882 attempt by Wood River Branch stock and bondholders to more evenly distribute revenue from passengers and freight connecting with the former at Wood River Junction. The Stonington Line saw as much as twice the income from Wood River Branch freight shipments as the branch did, as freight shipments were billed per mile traveled.
The railroad was threatened with default for unpaid bond interest in April 1884, which could force the company into receivership; this had recently caused the demise of another Rhode Island shortline, the Warwick Railroad. Bond payments almost due, which would bankrupt the company, amounted to $45,000 (). As the bondholders, stockholders, and company executives were largely one and the same, the primary bondholders agreed to accept new 10-year bonds as payment for the previous bonds.
The Stonington Line was purchased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1892, which continued its predecessor's hands-off approach.
Watrous years
Several of the company's leaders retired between 1900 and 1902, and president Amos G. Nichols died in January 1904. He was succeeded by Warwick native Ralph C. Watrous. Watrous first became involved with the company when he inherited a single share from his uncle in 1899. He began purchasing more shares, joining the company's board of directors in 1901. By 1903, he was the largest stockholder, with 75 shares to his name. Watrous later said he became involved with the railroad "so his mother wouldn't feel lonely or isolated in her Hope Valley home".
Watrous would serve as the Wood River Branch's president for the next 33 years, and steadfastly defeated several attempts at abandonment. He recalled one instance when he gave a New Haven Railroad executive intent on abandoning the line "some doughnuts, a glass of milk, and let him talk to my mother" and the executive changed his mind.
After many years of running passenger trains Monday through Saturday, the railroad introduced Sunday passenger service on July 29, 1903. Four trips were then provided on Sundays, with two round trips in the middle of the morning and two more in the late afternoon. A typical schedule in 1903 had four round trips each day, each timed to connect with New Haven Railroad trains to Providence. Despite being considered a success, the last Sunday trains ran on September 11, 1904. In general, the small line was at the mercy of the New Haven's scheduling, and had to adjust its timetables when the New Haven changed its train service to Wood River Junction.